The next morning, Carinne woke up early and sat by Archen’s bedside. She planned to wait quietly until he woke up. He opened his eyes around the time the sun was at its zenith, and sunlight streamed through the window.

Usually, this would be the time he would be reviewing his work… After all, what was the power of alcohol? How much time had passed like that?

She heard a rustling sound and looked over to see him waking up and stretching.

“Are you awake?”

“Ugh…”

He groaned, holding his forehead and sitting up.

Judging by the way he looked around with a vacant expression, it seemed he didn’t even remember when he had returned home.

“Where am I?”

“Where else would you be? Home.”

“Home…”

He blinked sleepily.

At that moment, Carinne suddenly kissed him. It was a bit sudden, but she had to keep the promise she made yesterday.

Thanks to that, Archen became the heroine in a drama who was caught off guard by a surprise kiss.

He was startled and tried to push Carinne away, but when she persistently dug in, he placed his hand on the back of her head instead.

The hand that had been caressing her nape traveled down her spine and wrapped around her waist.

As Carinne put her arms around his neck, the two figures lying on the bed drew closer. It was fortunate that it was early in the morning. If it had been a little later, Marie, who had come to inquire about their well-being, would have dropped her tray.

They continued kissing while embracing each other tightly. After a while, their heads became hot from the sunlight pouring down. Thinking that was enough, Carinne withdrew her arms.

When the kiss ended, he touched his lips with a bewildered expression.

“I don’t know why you’re doing this all of a sudden, but…”

The way he slowly licked his lips was strangely seductive. “It’s not bad.”

“You said it was your wish.”

Carinne quickly said, hoping he wouldn’t misunderstand.

It wasn’t a lie, it was the truth. The way he had acted like a child last night, urging her to kiss him, was still fresh in her mind. He was a little surprised to hear her words as he savored the aftertaste of the kiss by touching his lips.

“Did I say that?”

“Yes.”

“What else did I say? What on earth happened yesterday?”

“That’s all. Oh, and one more important thing.”

Carinne shook her index finger in front of a puzzled Archen.

“Don’t ever drink again.”

For Archen, it must have seemed like a strange thing to say. He looked at Carinne, who was earnestly emphasizing her point and was very curious about what had happened last night, though she didn’t give him any answers.

What happened yesterday remained in her own memory.

* * *

“Yeah, that’s how she tricked me.”

The man’s voice, filled with anger, echoed through the basement.

The man, who was sitting diagonally on the head of the table, had a fairly good-looking appearance. However, his good looks weren’t very noticeable due to his condescending tone and arrogant attitude.

“That’s when I decided. I have to see that woman begging me to meet her. I’ll break her high nose and make her cry, begging me to take her back.”

The other men surrounding the man silently agreed. No one knew the story of the incident that had caused a stir in the social circles. The faces of the people reflected in the dim light looked old, like an old illustration.

“So, do you have any good ideas?”

“….”

“You’re the ones who brought me here. You’re the ones who told me about the princess.”

The silence continued. The men surrounding the man only looked at each other, waiting for the other to speak first. Just as the man was about to lose his temper at being ignored, an old man broke the silence.

“I have a suggestion, but…”

It was more of an instruction than a suggestion. Everyone knew that except for one person.

“All right, very good. That method will definitely work. Women hate to see their appearance ruined more than anything else. Now that we have a method, let’s end the meeting here for today. Then, let’s meet again next time.”

The man, who had his mouth twisted sideways, seemed to like the old man’s suggestion. As the man left, groans could be heard here and there.

“Is this what you meant by putting up a shield?”

“In the end, didn’t she just get away with it? We spent two hours talking about something that could have been finished in one sentence.”

“It’s a good thing for us. With her making such a fuss in front of us, the princess won’t have the energy to pay attention to us.”

The old man spoke as if he were talking about a child. Yet, there were still some who were dissatisfied.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Think carefully. It may be a bit inconvenient right now, but they’re doing the work for us.”

The old man began to explain in an attempt to quell the discontent.

As some had wished, it was possible to bring down the princess while going through Giles. If the nobles themselves came forward to harm the princess, those who were on her side would not stand idly by. But what if some random nobody came to bother the princess?

And over a trivial matter of love? That would be a problem for the princess to deal with on her own.

“We just have to watch while putting in some firewood. And then, at the decisive moment…”

“….”

“…we hand her the scissors. Then, the one who holds the scissors will cut off whatever is bothering them, right?”

No one answered the old man’s question of who would be held responsible later. It was a time when one had to endure, even if it was a bit inconvenient now, for joy would come after hardship.

* * *

After a sweet morning, Carinne got dressed. She had documents to submit to the palace.

‘Proposal for Restrictions on Activities and Access Control in Ancient Ruins Protection Zone’

The content of the document, which gave me a headache just by hearing it, could be summarized as follows: ‘Don’t build buildings around the ruins, and don’t let people in!’

Access control seemed to have been added as an afterthought, but in fact, it was the other way around.

Restrictions on activities in the protection zone were just an add-on to access control. However, what did Carinne, whose experience consisted of attending two meetings and only processing documents related to the territory, know about policy proposals?

She had no choice but to ask Archen for help.

After hearing the story, Archen was curious why Carinne had suddenly become interested in ancient ruins.

“Is it absolutely necessary?”

“Yes. It’s very urgent. I have to stop anyone from entering as soon as possible.”

“I understand.”

That was all. He didn’t ask any more questions.

And so, with Archen’s help, Carinne succeeded in writing a plausible proposal.

And on top of that, she also prepared a hefty bribe for the official. Fortunately, the protection of ancient ruins was not such an important matter that it would be discussed at a meeting. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been possible to solve it with money.

If someone asked why she was suddenly so interested in protecting ancient ruins… Well, it was because this was the best way to ‘inevitably’ break the promise she had made with Ian.

Ian’s purpose in coming to Esmeril, although it was a bit late to reveal, was to find the relic of Saraha.

The relic, which symbolized the authority of the ancient Saraha emperor, had been stolen by an unknown person, and its whereabouts were unknown.

The emperor of Saraha was so angry that he mobilized all means at his disposal, but he was only able to find out that the relic was hidden in another country, in a place unknown to anyone.

The emperor sent people to find the relic.

When they failed, the next emperor inherited the task, and when the second emperor failed, the third emperor took over, and then the fourth, fifth, sixth… The great operation to find the relic of Saraha has continued to this day.

Crown Prince Ian could not escape the task, and in the novel… he was searching ancient ruins in other countries like a rat. To find any hint related to the ancient relic.

So far, so good. The problem was that Ian would come to Esmeril, explore the ancient ruins, and discover a hint about Esmeril’s sacred relic. Ian became interested in the sacred relic and dug into it. Based on the hints he got from the ancient ruins and the information he found in the library, he eventually found it.

Nonetheless, as long as Carinne held her ground, that was impossible.

Carinne had already borrowed all the books related to ancient ruins from the library. She was also going to stop anyone from entering the ancient ruins.

Of course, there was a risk that Giles would leak information to Ian. Since he had tried to tell him once before, there was no guarantee that he wouldn’t do it again in the future. However, the information Giles knew was, at best, that such a thing existed.

Only the king of Esmeril knew the exact location, method of use, and purpose.

Even if Giles were to be crowned as the successor and learn the information, Ian would have returned to his own country by then, so there would be no problem.

Having finished her preparations, Carinne arrived at the palace by carriage. Archen was with her. Submitting the policy proposal went smoothly. She handed a hefty bribe to the official, whose face showed that he was not pleased.

As a result, she was able to get a response that immediate action would be taken from the deployment of guards to a magical protective barrier.

That should be enough to stop Ian.

Now, all that was left was to cancel the appointment. The promise she had made with Ian and Giles was only in case the policy proposal didn’t work. She couldn’t let the two of them go to the ruins alone. But since the proposal had been passed, there was no need for either of them to go.

With a feeling of satisfaction, Carinne got into the carriage to go home. However, Archen said that he had something to do and asked to leave first.

“What are you doing? Let’s go together.”

“I have something to buy.”

He didn’t say what he was going to buy. Seeing him avoid the answer, a thought came to mind.

‘Is he out of soap?’

If so, that made sense. The soap he had bought last time was definitely embarrassing to show to others. Well, even if they were lovers, everyone had their own private space. Carinne decided to let him go.

“Take your time.”

Carinne got into the carriage to return home without any regrets. And when she arrived at the mansion, she was met by an unexpected person.

—